BAFTAs Atone Through Rose-Colored Glasses

Who says the British don't have a soft spot for the French?

While Atonement repeated its Golden Globes success by earning Best Film honors Sunday at the 61st Annual British Academy Film Awards, the romantic epic also continues to log the biggest gaps between total nominations and actual wins.

The World War II-era picture entered the evening at the Royal Opera House in London's Covent Garden with a leading 14 nominations but took home only two—its other win coming for production design.

"I'm definitely not going to win, but hopefully Atonement will come away with a couple of awards," psychic Best Actress nominee Keira Knightley said on the red carpet before the ceremony.

The Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose turned out to be the night's big winner with four awards, including a surprise Best Actress win for Marion Cotillard, who embodied the doomed Little Sparrow's mannerisms and deep-rooted sorrow to a tee in the French-language film. The ambience-heavy period drama's other wins were for music, hair and makeup and costume design.

"I'm shocked, I'm totally shocked," Cotillard said backstage. "But I'm thrilled. It's totally surreal...It has been an amazing night, but really I didn't expect to receive this award. I didn't prepare anything. I think I was just a mess onstage—I don't even remember what I said!"

But while Cotillard's win put a dent in Julie Christie's Mirren-esque awards season, Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem continued to mow down the competition, à la the characters they've been repeatedly honored for.

"For me it's a huge surprise—I'm not getting used to it," Bardem, a Best Supporting Actor winner for No Country for Old Men, said before the ceremony. "Winning awards is a matter of luck, not talent—it depends on so many subjective opinions, so it's like winning the lottery."

Day-Lewis, named Best Actor for There Will Be Blood, further cemented his Oscar-front-runner status and heightened his standing as Gracious Gentleman all at once.

"Never mind all the other qualities in her astonishing performance. For sheer balls alone, I feel Marion should have this award as well," the English actor, who last weekend dedicated his SAG Award to Heath Ledger, said in a nod to his fellow thesp.

The big wild card this season, meanwhile, appears to be in the Supporting Actress category, with no one clear favorite emerging from the hypertalented pack.

Cate Blanchett's riff on Bob Dylan in I'm Not There won her the Golden Globe and Ruby Dee scored the SAG Award for stealing scenes as Denzel Washington's mother in American Gangster, but it was Michael Clayton's adversary, Tilda Swinton, who took home the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress.

The shafting of Atonement director Joe Wright continued (although at least the British Academy nominated him), with Joel and Ethan Coen sharing the Best Director prize for No Country. The lyrically violent thriller also earned a win for the siblings' longtime cinematographer Roger Deakins, making it the second-most honored film at the BAFTAs this year.

The Coen brothers and their WGA Award-winning take on Cormac McCarthy's novel lost out to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly scribe Ronald Harwood for Best Adapted Screenplay honors; however, Diablo Cody again proved Juno's ocean-crossing capabilities, winning her umpteenth trophy for Best Original Screenplay.

Because awards season isn't a fixed box on the calendar, but rather a state of mind, La Vie en Rose lost out to last year's Foreign-Language Film Oscar winner The Lives of Others for Best Film Not in the English Language.

Ratatouille, a 10-time winner at the animation-honoring Annie Awards Friday night in Los Angeles, charmed the pants off of The Simpsons Movie and Shrek the Third to notch another Best Animated Film win.

In the only category shaped by the public, Shia LaBeouf claimed the Orange Rising Star Award. While Disturbia and Transformers don't necessarily qualify as high art, the always likable 21-year-old has also made his presence known in indies such as The Battle of Shaker Heights and A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and he'll be starring opposite Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull later this year.

Free to don gowns and tuxes and walk the red carpet with pride thanks to the lack of writers' strike on those shores, U.K. and U.S. stars alike made a strong showing, ensuring that there was no shortage of acceptance speeches, cheeky wit and good old-fashioned glamour.

Presenters included Emmy and Globes no-show Ricky Gervais, Daniel Radcliffe, Sylvester Stallone, Jeff Goldblum, Kevin Spacey, Cuba Gooding Jr., Thandie Newton, Eddie Izzard and Sir Ian McKellen, while Kate Hudson, Jessica Biel, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt also made the scene.

A very pregnant Kelly Macdonald dressed for the occasion, as well, along with fellow nominees James McAvoy, Viggo Mortensen, Ridley Scott, Paul Greengrass and Sienna Miller, who despite having been up-and-coming for several years now was also in consideration for Rising Star.

Here's a complete list of winners from the 61st Annual BAFTAs:

• Best Film:  Atonement
• Best British Film:  This Is England
• Leading Actor:  Daniel Day Lewis, There Will Be Blood
• Leading Actress:  Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
• Supporting Actor:  Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
• Supporting Actress:  Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
• Director:  Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men
• Original Screenplay:  Diablo Cody, Juno
• Adapted Screenplay:  Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• Film Not in the English Language:  The Lives of Others
• Animated Film:  Ratatouille
• Carl Foreman Award for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for Their First Feature Film: Matt Greenhalgh, writer, Control
• Music:  Christopher Gunning, La Vie en Rose
• Cinematography:  Roger Deakins, No Country for Old Men
• Editing:  Christopher Rouse, The Bourne Ultimatum
• Production Design:  Atonement
• Costume Design:  La Vie en Rose
• Sound:  The Bourne Ultimatum
• Special Visual Effects:  The Golden Compass
• Makeup and Hair:  La Vie en Rose
• Short Animation:  The Pearce Sisters
• Short Film:  Dog Altogether
• The Orange Rising Star Award:  Shia LaBeouf